smart meters

[ban-all-sheds]

Even better, "my car needed charging because my energy company took the charge from my battery to run the neighbour's tumble dryer"!

Ooh - there's an interesting concept, Marxist electricity distribution networks....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If the U.K.'s program for the construction of nuclear power plants hadn't been all but halted, they might not be in such a mess now.

And if my Aunt had b***s she'd be my Uncle.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I can see a waft of new late for work excuses coming on!

Yes - all very funny, but if you'd like to consider the reality of how it would work if we ever do fall into that brave new world...

"Sorry I'm late, my uniform wasn't dry because the energy company turned my drier off overnight"

"Sorry I can't get to work today, my electric car didn't charge because the energy company turned my supply off and I didn't realise"

Your personal prioritising and charge acceptance policies must take account of your contractual/employment commitments. You would no more be allowed by your employer to get away with those excuses than you would be today if you said "I forgot...".

Smart metering + smart appliances will allow you to define policies on when, and at what price, you want various things to be done. Assuming that we aren't facing catastrophic shortfalls incapacity there will be the ability for you to say "... and in the end, no matter what the price is for electricity at any point overnight, I MUST have this load dried/this car charged/whatever by 06:00.

 

[stillp]

Ooh - there's an interesting concept, Marxist electricity distribution networks....

A speaker at a conference last year was ecstacising over the possibility of using thousands of electric cars parked at airports for energy storage. After all, they don't need to be fully charged while their owners are away, and the return dates are known quite precisely.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And I imagine that lawyers are similarly aroused at the thought of such a scheme going awry and totally draining the batteries of a Tesla...

 

[PBC_1966]

A speaker at a conference last year was ecstacising over the possibility of using thousands of electric cars parked at airports for energy storage. After all, they don't need to be fully charged while their owners are away, and the return dates are known quite precisely.

Until somebody returns early, or something else crops up and a friend or family member needs to go and collect the vehicle from the airport for some reason. And what about the extra charge/discharge cycles being put on the batteries? Some of those electric vehicle battery replacements aren't cheap!

 

[stillp]

I'm sure there'll be something in the T & Cs of the car park to get out of any liabilities. Then they can charge extra for a VIP service in which they don't use your car as an energy store...

 

[Taylortwocities]

A bit like certain unscrupulous airport car park companies who (despite their T&Cs) do not keep your car securely and sometimes use it for all sorts while you are on your holidays.

CLICKY

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Some of those electric vehicle battery replacements aren't cheap!

Indeed not - I mentioned Tesla as I've heard that:

a) Their batteries can run into £10,000's

b) If you allow it to go totally flat it is trashed, will not recharge, and the replacement is not covered by the warranty.


I'm still not convinced about the infrastructure reality for electric vehicles. There are over 2.5m cars in London - if they were all electric where would the electricity to charge them come from and how would it get there? When looking at filling stations, one petrol pump can transfer 30-60MJ of stored entry into a car in one minute.

That makes 1 pump a 500kW-1MW appliance. Yes, there would be diversity, yes less energy needs to be transferred because electric motors are more efficient, and yes cars take longer to charge than they do to fill, but even so the electrical equivalent of something like this:

is going to be a problem.

 

[notaplumber1]

Tnx 4 all the replies. My builder starts monday. Kitchen will arrive june 16th. Earliest smart meter can be done is August. Smart meter idea is knocked on the head. Tnx again.

 

[PBC_1966]

Indeed not - I mentioned Tesla as I've heard that:

a) Their batteries can run into £10,000's

I've never paid that much for a whole car!

My wife had a leased Toyota Prius for a while through her work to see her through the move up to this part of the state just before I arrived (gone now thankfully - I drove it a few times and found it horrible). I've seen battery replacements for those quoted at anything upwards of $2500 and thought that was bad enough. And there's still a regular 12V battery which needs replacing every few years as usual.

 

[stillp]

Indeed not - I mentioned Tesla as I've heard that:

a) Their batteries can run into £10,000's

b) If you allow it to go totally flat it is trashed, will not recharge, and the replacement is not covered by the warranty.

There was a class action against them - PBC, any idea what's happened about that?
Another issue is that their charger cuts out if the input voltage drops below a certain figure - I was talking to a guy in Florida a few years ago, who was one of those participating in the class action. He only used his Florida house for a few months of the year, so kept a Tesla there, on charge via a 300 foot long extension lead... The VD in the extension made the charger drop out, so when he next went to Florida the Tesla battery was 'bricked'.

 

[PBC_1966]

There was a class action against them - PBC, any idea what's happened about that?

Sorry, no idea, this is the first I've heard about it. A quick search shows a lot of references to it, but no verdict. I see some references to fires related to these batteries as well.